TNAG-0414-FCO40-460-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 154

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bers of the Working Group represented independent, autonomous agencies and bureaus, each with a different frame of reference and each with a different approach to the problem, the meetings resulted in arguments, and that no decisions are reached. As a result, the anti- narcotics effort is conducted on a personal relationship basis. This system cannot work, however, unless there are dedicated full-time individuals with full authority to represent the agencies and the White House.

This pretty well sums up the shortcomings in the U.S. organiza- tion to combat drugs on an international level. Petty bureaucratic jealousies over jurisdiction have inhibited the activities of the Cabinet Committee. This in turn has hampered efforts to mobilize the full resources and to coordinate the agencies of the Federal Government involved in the anti-narcotics struggle. Fortunately this situation does not appear to be as severe in Southeast Asia as it is in Washington. While minor personnel and bureaucratic tensions do arise from time to time, for the most part the representatives of the different agencies, departments, and bureaus work closely with each other and the prob- lems that are present in Washington do not seem to have been exported.